Note: Blogging has been nonexistent here for almost two months. Critical illness. in in my best friend has required my full time and attention for several months. Pro-life begins at home. By God’s grace, things for Fr. Clark have stabilized and begun to improve. My heartfelt thanks for all who have written out of concern. It’s good to be back. Now, back to work.
Dr. Elard Koch is a fellow biologist and epidemiologist from Chile with whom I am collaborating on a major research study involving oral contraceptives. Dr. Koch has just released a study refuting pro-abort claims that abortions are safer than childbirth. Here is Dr. Koch’s press release. I have not yet read the study, but hope to within the week, after which I shall lead a guided tour through it for all who are interested. Here now is Dr. Koch:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
EMBARGO TIME: May 4th, 2012 at 5 pm EST
CONTACT:
Reporters UCSC: Carolina Astudillo, Phone 56 (41) 2345587; castudillo@ucsc.cl
Researchers: Dr Elard Koch, by e-mail ekoch@ucsc.cl; ekoch@ug.uchile.cl
Dr John Thorp, by e-mail john_thorp@med.unc.edu
Dr. Sebastian Gatica, by e-mail sgatica@ucsc.cl
Chile Outperforms U.S. and Dramatically Reduces Maternal Deaths by Increasing Women’s Educational Level
Concepción, Chile, May 5 – A scientific analysis of 50 years of maternal mortality data from Chile has found that the most important factor in reducing maternal mortality is the educational level of women. “Educating women enhances women’s ability to access existing health care resources, including skilled attendants for childbirth, and directly leads to a reduction in her risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth,” according to Dr Elard Koch, epidemiologist and leading author of the study.
The research entitled “Women’s Education Level, Maternal Health Facilities, Abortion Legislation and Maternal Deaths: a Natural Experiment in Chile from 1957 to 2007” was conducted on behalf of the Chilean Maternal Mortality Research Initiative (CMMRI) and published in the Friday, May 4 issue of PLoS ONE. (http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/
journal.pone.0036613).
Using 50 years of official data from Chile’s National Institute of Statistics (1957-2007), the authors looked at factors likely to affect maternal mortality, such as years of education, per capita income, total fertility rate, birth order, clean water supply, sanitary sewer, and childbirth delivery by skilled attendants. They also analyze the effect of historical educational and maternal health policies, including legislation that has prohibited abortion in Chile since 1989, on maternal mortality.
During the fifty-year study period, the overall Maternal Mortality Ratio or MMR (the number of maternal deaths related to childbearing divided by the number of live births) dramatically declined by 93.8%, from 270.7 to 18.2 deaths per 100,000 live births between 1957 and 2007, making Chile a paragon for maternal health in other countries. “In fact, during 2008, the overall MMR declined again, to 16.5 per 100,000 live births, positioning Chile as the country with the second lowest MMR in the American continent after Canada and with at least two points lower MMR than United States” said Koch.
One of the most significant findings is that, contrary to widely-held assumptions, making abortion illegal in Chile did not result in an increase in maternal mortality. In fact, after abortion was made illegal in 1989, the MMR continued to decrease from 41.3 to 12.7 per 100,000 live births (69.2% reduction). “Definitively, the legal prohibition of abortion is unrelated to overall maternal mortality rates” emphasized Koch.
The variables affecting this decrease included the predictable factors of delivery by skilled attendants, complementary nutrition for pregnant women and their children in the primary care clinics and schools, clean facilities, and fertility. But the most important factor and the one which increased the effect of all others was the educational level of women. For every additional year of maternal education there was a corresponding decrease in the MMR of 29.3 per 100,000 live births.
The picture for Chile includes a transition of leading causes of death along with an accelerated decline of fertility and delayed motherhood. Koch explained that direct causes –those directly attributable to pregnancy condition– were the rule before 1990, but from then, indirect causes –i.e. non-obstetric chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes among others– rise as the most prevalent, hindering the decline on maternal mortality.
“This study uncovers an ongoing ‘fertility paradox’ in maternal health: education is the major modulator that has helped Chile to reach one of the safest motherhood in the world, but also contributes to decrease fertility, excessively delaying motherhood and puts mothers on risk because of their older age.” Thus, an emerging problem nowadays “is not a question of how many children a mother has, but a question of when a mother has her children, specially the first of them” concluded Koch.
UCSC
Glad to see you’re alive and well. Anybody who says abortions are safer than childbirth is a nincompoop. I suppose they could also say that murdering one’s fiancée is a proactive way to avoid paying alimony. But how do these authors know that there wouldn’t have been an even greater decline in the MMR if abortions were not made illegal? Furthermore, would illegal abortions be counted in the numerator of the MMR? If not (who reports their own crimes?), wouldn’t this lead to a spurious reduction in the MMR? Indeed, Dr. N, for those of us who will likely not read it, we’re most interested in your guided tour.
Honestly, this all makes sense. My father told me that his mother (married at 17) lost her first three children because she didn’t know how to look after them. He distinctly remembers his younger brother as a baby being fed bread soaked in milk rather than being breastfed which at that time was considered “dirty” and something poor stupid women did. My grandma, God bless her had lots of babies, was very uneducated and simply didn’t know how her body worked or that breastfeeding was best.
Two generations later her granddaughter – me!, had all my children naturally, breastfed (because breast is best!) and used NFP to space my children. I had a doula AND a physician who delivered babies naturally and at home if desired.
Educating parents to understand their bodies, and how to care for themselves and their children makes all the difference.
Not abortion. How can abortion be healthcare or maternal care when one of the patients always dies?
I found a recommendation of the book edited by Erika Bachiochi entitled “Women, Sex & The Church”. I am in the process of reading it and have to agree with one of the people’s comment there “I don’t know why it’s called “Women sex and the church” – these aren’t just women’s issues.” It’s a must read for everyone who wants to know the truth. There is so much lies in society that are really destroying it, harming the next generation with all sorts of health issue.
Reblogged this on provitamedicus and commented:
Studiu in Chile ajunge la concluzia ca educatia si nu avortul reduce rata mortalittatii materne.